PERCEIVED CONTRIBUTION OF CHILDREN TO MARRIAGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON FAMILY PLANNING BEHAVIOR

Abstract

PIP: The impact of the perceived consequences of having children on a couple's contraceptive practices and the tendency to plan births are examined. 2 separate measures of family planning were utilized, contraceptive pattern and proportion of unplanned pregnancies. It was found that the more a woman viewed children as an essential part of the marital experience the less likely she was to use reliable contraception early in marriage. The influence of the evaluation of children on contraceptive practices also was contingent upon the number of children a couple had had and the number of years they had been married. Differences in incidence of unplanned pregnancies among women was more a result of socioeconomic circumstance and the tendency to have a large family than attitude towards children. These 2 aspects of family planning have different implications for policy decisions. Changing the incidence of unplanned pregnancies would entail attacking those conditions which handicap couples in changing their life circumstances. It would involve educating them to the concept of family planning and the techniques of birth control and also increasing economic opportunity. Changing contraceptive patterns, on the other hand, might involve encouraging alternative adult roles, and creating differential incentives for childbearing.